The field of the invention is systems and methods for ultrasound imaging. More particularly, the invention relates to systems and methods for shear wave elastography using ultrasound.
Shear waves can be used to evaluate the viscoelastic properties of tissue, which are sensitive biomarkers of tissue pathology. To perform two-dimensional ultrasound shear wave elastography, an ultrasound imaging system with a frame rate of several kilohertz is required to capture the fast moving shear waves. This is not feasible with conventional ultrasound imaging systems, which typically have a frame rate of less than 100 Hz and where two-dimensional images are formed line by line. Thus, it would be desirable to provide a system and method capable of performing two-dimensional shear wave elastography with a conventional ultrasound imaging system.